THE |
|
a cache of usenet and other text files pertaining
to occult, mystical, and spiritual subjects. |
To: alt.tarot,alt.magick.tyagi,alt.magick From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (nagasiva) Subject: Emblems/Symbols, Meditation/Reading and Case-workers (was Re: Plotinus, evil, ....) Date: 16 May 1997 02:14:16 -0700 49970515 AA1 Hail Satan! (B.Bunny: "as you know, this means war!") an assertion regarding the Karlin/Brzustowicz Case-workers in other threads, "J. Karlin"writes: #...to most people 'meditation' is staring blankly at a #card until some gibberish pops into their heads. this is not my understanding of what people mean by 'meditation on tarot cards', though I agree it is reasonable, given the prevalence of 'meditation' as it is associated with zazen, for this to be inferred. #That's NOT what Case, or any other occultist means by that term. #Please quote to me from Case's writings where he says #that tarot symbolism's 'specific meanings' can be #'uncovered by concentrated effort' where 'effort' #is taken to mean SOLELY 'meditation' or 'intuition' #without a proper occult education. here we see Mr. Karlin's source for his dogmatic insistence. it appears that he is a Case-worker, trained by some BOTA- factory to profess the True and Accepted Interpretation of a deck of cards which no occultist originated yet through which they may have sought to convey some specific meaning, only approachable by the Adepti who had delved into the "True Meanings" of the cards as adapted by the Inspired. #His 'books of meditations', at least on tarot (such as #'Book of Tokens') are certainly NOT intended to make #any sense to anyone who is not familiar with kabbala #(or who perhaps is using the book to begin learning #it). does anyone have a review as to Mr. Case's understanding and bias as regards "kabbala"? it might tell us something about what Mr. Karlin is getting at. #It has commentaries on each chapter written in #plain English, not 'meditative' language, so clearly #he had a concern that people no go off on flights #of fancy about 'what it means'. It appears (from text here and below) that Mr. Case was also very concerned with people fabricating new meanings to the cards which he considered to be instructional 'Keys to the Wisdom of the Ancients'. #[Case] was talking about people who had 'entered' [into #"ever-deeper interpretations of meaning"]. Most people #never do, since they waste time thinking that their #personal views about tarot symbolism are the door. it does appear to be the bias of at least Mr. Karlin and quite possibly Mr. Case that this latter method is totally devoid of value, and that there is but "One Door" to the "Important and Worthwile Meaning" the cards relate. #[Words alone] sure as hell CAN SAY a great deal and to ignore #them because you think 'meditation' can substitute for #study is just absurd and I DON'T think Paul Case would #have taught anyone that. and this is one of the important elements of Mr. Karlin's favored paradigm: that he considers his ideas on Case (whom he apparently reveres as having cornered the market on what tarot is about and what wisdom it may display and how) to be very important, his knowledge about Case and that which Case instructed or pointed toward in his explication of tarot as more important than that which others might in good faith bring to the alt.tarot forum. all of this without saying it simply as I have just done (perhaps he has made it clear in his lengthy REF). instead, making a big fuss, making others out as 'wrong', promoting himself and his peculiar knowledge as that which is More Valuable than any other. now I ask you again, are you sure that Case and the methods which he and his organization use to provide instruction aren't inspiring this kind of egotistical and self- aggrandizing behavior? I have met several 'Adepti' who have been 'converted' to the 'BOTA Way', considering themselves possessed of the 'One True Method' of "Unlocking the Secrets of the Tarot, especially in relation to "kaballa", in association with BOTA, meditation on the cards, and a "Thorough Understanding" of the "Correct" ideas about both "kaballa" and tarot's symbolism. I don't think that this was at all a coincidence. ---------------------------------------------------------------- in addition we have nobody@REPLAY.COM (Anonymous/Damian): #In 'The True and Invisible Rosicrucian Order' Case describes the #Tarot as being a storehouse for the knowledge of the Order, which #can be reconstituted, even if ALL other knowledge is lost, by #contemplation on the cards. (My emphasis.) I am not saying I #could do it, merely that Case said it was possible. He obviously #didn't think it a universal method, which is why he wrote at #length as you describe. Further, Case states that contemplation of #the cards leads to changes in the body's chemistry which leads to #a condition where such wisdom can be received, but that this effect #takes time. I am using the word contemplation not as a direct quote, #but to distinguish it from meditation following on from intense #study of a subject, which is the method Case recommended more often. #I know that the word has other meanings, which I do not mean here, #but I want to be clear that it is not just 'looking blankly'. by this text it is clear that Case had a very concise metaphysic which allowed for the constraint to his One Dogmatism of Wisdom as being the Perfect Key through metamorphasis. it is but one more Official System based upon false presumptions, such as: #He also wrote about symbols having a universal non-verbal meaning #that could be discerned by contemplating the cards.... and bolstered by a myopic disrespect of competing ideologies, as indicated by the assertion that: #Case... could be quite dismissive of alternative interpretations #to his own.... ------------------------------------------------------------------ however, this doesn't mean that the propaganda promoted by Mr. Case, Mr. Karlin and Mr. Brzustowicz is necessarily FALSE! I only oppose it here because of the fruits to which it appears to lead and its blatant resemblance to a variety of other con-games I have seen in the occult world. for balance, I allow the second voice who appears bent on being a Case-worker: brz@u.washington.edu (R Brzustowicz): #...the Tarot emblems were not (as emblem sequences) unique sets -- #and ...there is a realm of images situated between the realm of purely #arbitrary conventional *signs* (like "=" and "+" and "-") and the #realm of symbols, ie, the realm of emblems. # #In other words, I am suggesting that it's helpful to think of Tarot #images as "emblematic," not simply as "symbolic". (In the same way, there #are symbolic images in heraldry, but to say of something that it is #heraldric can be more helpful than simply saying it's symbolic. -- #Especially if there are people around claiming that a coat of arms can and #should be interpreted simply according to one's intuition, that there is #no particular "true meaning" to a coat of arms other than the meaning #given to it by the person looking at it, that heraldric conventions are #irrelevant to understanding coats of arms, etc, etc.) [uncited] #>...tarot cards do not strictly (to the degree one can be strict #>about these things) match the definition of 'emblems' which DID #>usually have a textual portion as well as the graphic. I don't #>think the mere application of a title (and on most early #>cards there IS NO title) is the same thing. # #I agree -- although I think there are emblem sequences that have only #title and image, text is important for emblems of the emblem-book variety. #(The word "emblem" is already recorded for English in what seems to be a #less formal sense in 1430.) here the paradigm from which the tarot is viewed is fleshed out: a directed communication from some undefined intelligence which one may discern through intentional and guided (get the instructions from the Adepti) contemplation after having "learned the Correct Interpretation of the cards". it therefore becomes imperative to presume that one *has* the Correct Perspective -- since to admit the possibility of relative truths about the cards' meanings undermines the authority vested by BOTA and the BOTA-Adepti. Case is the prophet of a New Order of tarot dogmatists, ones who must view the "Proper" usage of the tarot for study and meditation rather than "mere readings", view the cards as "emblems", conveying a particular and vaunted "Wisdom", and dismiss the rest of the tarot-using public as 'know-nothings' in order to artificially bolster their own sense of superiority. unfortunately, this type of 'wisdom' can be unravelled and shown for what it probably is: dogmatism and charlatanry at the expense of honor. tyagi -- see http://www.hollyfeld.org/~tyagi/nagasiva.html and call: 408/2-666-SLUG!!! ---- (emailed replies may be posted) ---- CC public replies to author ---- * * * Asphalta Cementia Metallica Polymera Coyote La Cucaracha Humana * * *
The Arcane Archive is copyright by the authors cited.
Send comments to the Arcane Archivist: tyaginator@arcane-archive.org. |
Did you like what you read here? Find it useful?
Then please click on the Paypal Secure Server logo and make a small donation to the site maintainer for the creation and upkeep of this site. |
The ARCANE ARCHIVE is a large domain,
organized into a number of sub-directories, each dealing with a different branch of religion, mysticism, occultism, or esoteric knowledge. Here are the major ARCANE ARCHIVE directories you can visit: |
|
interdisciplinary:
geometry, natural proportion, ratio, archaeoastronomy
mysticism: enlightenment, self-realization, trance, meditation, consciousness occultism: divination, hermeticism, amulets, sigils, magick, witchcraft, spells religion: buddhism, christianity, hinduism, islam, judaism, taoism, wicca, voodoo societies and fraternal orders: freemasonry, golden dawn, rosicrucians, etc. |
SEARCH THE ARCANE ARCHIVE
There are thousands of web pages at the ARCANE ARCHIVE. You can use ATOMZ.COM
to search for a single word (like witchcraft, hoodoo, pagan, or magic) or an
exact phrase (like Kwan Yin, golden ratio, or book of shadows):
OTHER ESOTERIC AND OCCULT SITES OF INTEREST
Southern
Spirits: 19th and 20th century accounts of hoodoo,
including slave narratives & interviews
|